Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Colorado

2 weeks of F-U-N!!

(READER WARNING: This post takes the record for the longest post ever featured on "The Smith'sonian". I have broken it into segments so you can pick it back up when you get a chance. Enjoy! And a quick thank you to Blogger for only letting me upload 5 pictures at a time)

PART 1 : THE TRIP AND THE WEDDING

AIRPORT FUN

breakfast

Kate and her "carry-on"

This was at the car rental place. We're getting ready for the last leg of our trip.

2 airplane rides and now a quick 4 1/2 hour drive over the mountains to Granny's!

The Wedding

My sister Hannah got married. This was the reception hall. Please pay close attention to all the table cloths because we had to iron them all!! ugggh!

centerpieces that my creative mother came up with!

chocolate covered cherries that my culinary mother made - 700 in all!

Getting ready!!! The sweetest little flower girl ever!!

Bride and flower girl

READY AND BEAUTIFUL!!

Amazing dress!!

"Baby Kate looks like a princess!"

Here comes the... FLOWER GIRL!!

trying to keep it together as Hannah comes down the isle!!!

Reception

cheese cakes for the guests and this little cake for the Bride and Groom to cut.

side note: I actually ate this cake after they left for their honeymoon! MMMM!!

The happy couple

PART 2: FUN IN THE MOUNTAINS

After the wedding, my mom, dad, sister Amanda, and our family went and stayed 4 days in Ridgeway, Co. This was the house we stayed in!

The first night, the boys had a great time widdling sticks for smores. Thanks to my father and Ben who thought that the 4 and 5 year old boys should have their own knives!!!

...yes, a cut!!!

sunset

cute boy through the camp fire smoke!!

TUESDAY

waterfalls!!

grandpa and Luke

climbing mountains!!

more rocks!

Lunch in Ouray! REALLY great hamburgers!!

Now for some great shopping in Ouray! Cutest shops!

Ben stumbled into this blown glass store and they sent us to the back to see the guy blow some glass. This was really cool!

Blowing glass got boring for Kate, so she decided to eat a weed!??

Aunt Amanda to the rescue to get the weed OUT of Kate's mouth!

Fun with Aunt Amanda!

Home for a little rest! We were not the only ones resting!! This guy is chillin' under the kitchen window!

POOPED...

and dirty!

PART 3: MORE MOUNTAIN FUN!

WEDNESDAY: Telluride, Co

waiting for the gondolla that takes you over the mountain to the "village"

This is a shot to remember forever: Amanda was having an anxiety attack on the gondolla (a small bit claustrophobic and scared of heights). Ben had a great time making fun of her and even rocking the car we were in!!

mom and dad!!

The Village

scary, cross-eyed angel

SOOO CUTE!

After lunch fun!

back over the mountain!

Shopping in Telluride!

Mom said that everyone that lived in Telluride had a dog - I guess so!

ICECREAM!

Dinner back in Ouray!

@my parent's favorite place: The Outlaw

mmmm!

city streets!

THURSDAY:

SWIMMING in the hot springs!

we actually planned to go swimming our first day there (as you can tell in the waterfall pics how the boys are dressed in their swimming trunks), but the rivers were sooo full that the muddy waters got into the pool and they had to close it to wash out the mud. Just imagine the look on the kid's faces when we pulled up to the pool and there was no water in it!!

The view from the pool

Back home to try out the new sling shots!

saying goodbye to the house!!

time to go back to Grand Junction!

...but first a stop in Ridgeway

I was ready for some cowboy gunfights in this town!

cowboy photo shoot!

...and here's that gunfight I was waiting for!

PART 4: THE FINAL FRONTEER

Trip to the Dinosaur museum in Fruita

digging for dino bones!

Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa!!

Heading back to Denver!

Idaho Springs

We used to always eat here on my youth group ski trips!! What memories!

a little hunting action after our pizza!

DINNER:

Can't be in Denver without a trip to CASA BONITA!!!

very cool place!

a view from our table under the waterfall!

I loved this place as a little girl and NOTHING has changed!!!

Cliff divers!

puppet show!

...and the mexican polka men!!

One last stop at Grandma and Grandpa Stutz's house. Ethan and Luke were playing tic-tac-toe on the i touch with Grandpa!